


star wars rubber ducks

by Theo-Sev (Sevv7)



Category: Leverage
Genre: Episode: s05e13 The Corkscrew Job, Getting Together, Getting drunk together, Missing Scenes, Multi, Stealing from Nate Ford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26182819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sevv7/pseuds/Theo-Sev
Summary: Nate thinks he's so smart because he managed to sell the Jefferson bottle and still keep the wine to tease Sophie with.Problem is, Hardison's smarter.Or, how Hardison, Parker and Eliot get wine-drunk on the most expensive wine in history.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 20
Kudos: 142





	star wars rubber ducks

Eliot’s been working in the kitchen for the best part of the afternoon. Really he has no good excuse as to why he needs to be at the Brewpub - their last job wrapped up a couple of days ago - so he has to admit to himself that he's there because he wants to be.

Mostly he just stays in the back and cooks. Learning how to work as part of a kitchen brigade has been a different experience for him, especially compared to how he’s used to cooking - alone. It makes a nice change. Tonight though, they’re short staffed on servers, so Eliot’s pitched in and done his share of running out meals. He doesn’t really see his talents as lying in the ‘people’ side of the restaurant business, but he’s got to admit that it gives him a nice feeling of satisfaction when he gets to see patrons appreciating his menu.

He’d noticed Nate in his usual booth earlier, probably relaying their success to the client, and the vineyard worker who’s life Eliot had helped save. She’d given Eliot a huge warm grin when he’d been over to serve their drinks, the kind that he’s not usually on the receiving end of, so all in all he’s having a pretty good day.

By the time he’s finished in the kitchen for the evening, Nate has moved to the bar area (no surprises there). He’s sitting with Sophie and an unlabeled bottle of wine, and they’re talking in low voices, laughing. Clearly a private moment.

Eliot checks the time and it's still early. At least, early enough for him to head out to a different bar, with different people and maybe see if there’s anyone there worth talking to. The thing is though, there are two people worth talking to here, too. And while it feels like Nate and Sophie are slowly pulling away for more ‘Nate-and-Sophie’ time, Parker and Hardison kind of seem to be doing the opposite. As though they’re trying harder than ever to keep Eliot close.

He weighs up the pros and cons of his two potential plans for the evening, but Parker and Hardison win out over the idea of a night with someone he picked up in a bar. They always do.

When he gets into the office space at the back of the brewpub, he finds them with their backs to him, pouring intently over something on Hardison’s desk.

Eliot clears his throat and they both spin their chairs around, Parker first. They’re grinning hard, like they’ve been laughing together.

“Hey, man,” Hardison says, reaching his arm out and gesturing for Eliot to come over.

“What you got?” he asks suspiciously.

“Oh, you know,” Parker giggles, “just a bottle of wine. Nothing special.” And then she dissolves into laughter.

“O-kay.” Eliot quirks an eyebrow at Hardison and edges slowly closer.

There’s a carafe full of red wine on the desk. It’s been placed on top of scattered papers, which are all now stained with purplish rings.

“Come, join us,” Hardison beckons again. “It’ll be worth your while. Promise.”

“Want me to get glasses?” Parker says excitedly, and then decides, “yeah, I’ll go get some.” She scampers off back into the pub, practically skipping.

“You two are up to somethin’,” Eliot says, watching her go.

“Sure are,” agrees Hardison. “You, uh, you see Nate and Sophie in there?”

Eliot nods. “I did.”

“They look happy? Pleased with themselves?”

Eliot ignores the fact that Hardison is obviously hiding something from him, and casts his mind back a few minutes. “I guess so,” he says slowly. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason. Hey Eliot? Did you know Nate found a buyer for the Jefferson bottle?”

Huh. “That’s what the cheque was for,” Eliot pieces together, “wondered why they all looked so happy earlier.”

“Yeah, the bottle sold for a lot,” Hardison says, leaning back in his chair and watching Eliot closely. “The b-o-tt-le.”

“The bottle?” repeats Eliot, nonplussed. “The- wait. The bottle? Not the wine?”

Hardison’s grin widens. “Nate asked me if it was possible to drain out the wine without leaving evidence that it’s been tampered with - and of course it is.”

“So that’s why they’re pleased - Nate an’ Sophie? ‘Cause they got the Jefferson wine?” 

Damn, without even offering it to the team?

Even without meaning to, Eliot’s mind has already presented him with a handful of meals he could have cooked for them which would pair nicely with a red vintage. They all know he’s a beer guy, but he still knows more about wine than the rest of them, so it hurts a little that they didn’t think of him. 

“Yeah, I guess so,” Hardison agrees, still looking a bit cryptic. “Although, obviously Nate couldn’t do a job like that himself.”

A few more pieces drop into place. “You did the extraction?”

“Mhm,” smiles Hardison.

Parker bounds back in holding three wine glasses in one hand, a stem in between each of her fingers. “Got them. I also got food.” She gestures to a bag of ingredients, so Eliot resigns himself to the fact that he’s cooking for them, and then she says, “Did you tell him yet?”

“Nah, I‘m letting him figure it out,” Hardison tells her, clearly enjoying himself.

Eliot glances from Parker to the glasses to Hardison, and finally to the carafe on his desk. “You’re a thief,” he says, because Hardison is annoying, and Eliot can be cryptic too.

“Ding ding!” Parker exclaims happily.

“So if that’s… then what does Nate have?”

Hardison laughs a little. “One of my creations from the winery. Not the best - not sweet enough.”

“So. Well. That…” Eliot stutters, still eyeing the carafe.

“Yep. That,” Hardison says, giving a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

“So you’re joining us, right?” Parker asks.

“‘Course.”

“Oh phew. Because we can _not_ make a meal out of these on our own.” She hoists the bag of ingredients a few times.

“Come on then,” Eliot says with a fond eye roll, “let’s see what you got.”

They make their way up to Hardison’s second floor apartment and Eliot sets to work prepping the steaks that Parker chose out for them.

Hardison pours wine for them all and they should probably wait until their meal’s ready, but just a taste won’t hurt. Naturally though, ‘just a taste’ turns into a whole glass, and by the time Eliot goes to put Hardison’s steak on, the carafe is more than halfway empty.

It’s a nice wine, rich and full bodied, and Eliot could wax lyrical about the different tasting notes, but Parker has started telling a ridiculous story about the time she cracked a J7-2907 safe and to be honest he’d rather just listen to her.

He concentrates on the food for a bit after that, making sure Hardison’s steak is starting to cook before his and Parker’s go in. He’s done trying to convince Hardison that well-done is not ‘well’ done, but in fact way overcooked; he’s lost that argument enough times that he’s learnt to just get on and cook it for him as he claims to like it.

When he serves up their meal - steak with cremini mushrooms and asparagus, pan fried in garlic butter, Parker pours the remainder of the wine for them, and proposes a toast.

“To Nate and Sophie, we’re sorry we stole your wine, but not sorry enough to give it back.”

They eat and drink and Hardison spends far too long explaining the process he used to decant the wine from the bottle, but it’s fine, because he’s proud and Eliot secretly likes listening to him when he’s being smart. When the wine’s all gone, another bottle appears and the carafe is refilled. It’s noticeably lower quality, but it’s not half bad, given that it was chosen by either Parker or Hardison.

At some point in the evening they move over to the couch and the carafe is refilled again, and then again. Eliot doesn’t pass comment on the quality any more, except to say it’s now his favourite drink (it isn’t) because apparently wine-drunk Eliot enjoys all wine. Parker’s stories lean more and more towards the unbelievable, but he doesn’t question her, not even when she tells them about the time she beat an Ido12 A-Class while sleepwalking, which, yeah, maybe should be a sign that they’ve had enough to drink.

When Hardison falls asleep mid sentence, Eliot and Parker go rummaging for a blanket to throw over him, and spend far too long laughing at the Star Wars themed rubber duck collection in his bathroom. Eventually they find one singular blanket, it’s navy and hand crocheted, and Parker ‘awws’ at how it’s probably from Hardison’s Nana.

“We need to meet Nana,” Eliot decides.

“Right?! I’ve been saying this for like, a year,” Parker tells him, “don’t worry, I’ll make sure it happens.” Then she pauses and adds, “I hope she likes us.”

Eliot throws an arm around her shoulders and breathes in her scent and says, “Of course she will. Because Hardison thinks we’re great.”

It’s not at all funny, but they laugh at that for a good two minutes. Eliot thinks that of all the jobs they’ve done, managing to convince Hardison and Parker that he’s worth something might just be the biggest con of his life.

When they get back to the couch they awkwardly maneuver the blanket around Hardison before realising that it’s the only blanket they’ve found, and they also need somewhere to sleep. The fact that they both have their own places never once crosses their mind, and the wine is only partly to blame for how comfortable they are with the idea of snuggling up on either side of Hardison so the blanket covers all three of them.

They chat quietly for a few minutes, centering mostly on how truely amazing Hardison is. Parker reaches her hand around the back of the couch and catches Eliot’s, interlacing her fingers in his.

“It’s been a good night,” she says.

He hums quietly in agreement, and then chuckles.

“What?”

“Just thinkin’ how much I’m gonna hate myself in the mornin’,” he tells her. Because for someone whose job is dependent on how well they can take pain, Eliot really doesn’t deal well with hangovers.

“Oh,” Parker falls quiet for a bit, thinking, and then she says, “don’t worry, we’ll still love you.”

Eliot doesn’t really know what to do with that, so he just laughs. “ _You’ll_ hate _your_ self too.”

Parker shrugs. “Eh. But _you and Hardison_ will still love _me._ I think that’s more important.”

Wise, Eliot thinks. Parker is so damn wise. He squeezes her fingers in agreement and lets his eyes slip shut, relaxed like he hasn't been for a long time.

“Yeah,” he murmurs, “we will.”

Between them Hardison makes a sleepy noise and shuffles until his head is resting on Eliot’s chest, and that’s all it takes for Eliot to slowly drift off to sleep.

* * *

Four years later and under very different circumstances, the three of them get wine-drunk together again. They’re stopping in London on the way back from a job, and Sophie invites them to stay with her and Nate while they wait for their flight back to the States. Eliot cooks, as always, and they spend the evening reminiscing back over their shared history, including ‘that vineyard guy - you know, the one with the wine’. And maybe, in their enjoyment of their shared private joke, one of them inadvertently drops a hint about the true fate of the Jefferson wine, and maybe Sophie pouts for a bit and Nate sits there with a dazed look on his face. But it’s all in good humour really, because that’s when Eliot tells them that it was the first time he ever admitted out loud that he loved them.

And boy, does he love them.

**Author's Note:**

> Eliot does, indeed, hate himself the next morning. But that's a different story (and it centres on how easy it is for Parker and Hardison to convince him to make breakfast even when he's hanging something fierce).
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it <3


End file.
